Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1887-02-03
MATCHING FINE DIAMONDS.


passed and the house adjourned
MATCHING FINE DIAMONDS.
Inc Difilculty of Getting Together Satisfac-
tory Diamond Necklace.
New York Ssn
A fashionable looking gentleman en-
tered we'll known jewelry store one day
last week in great hurry:
Il want" he said, with some hesitation,
"a diamond earring to match this one. /
must have 1T by tomorrow without fail,
as the pair is intended for birthday
present. brought this one and its mate
from Europe, last week, and one was eth
er lost or stolen"
The proprietor looked at the earring
critically, and smiled.
You ask what is impossibie,o he said.
This is very fine diamond, and cannot
be matched in weight and color without
great care, if at all. might have to look
at 4 thousand stones before / could get
one like it, and / might not be able to get
one without having it cut to order. There
is not jeweler in the world who can
match stone like that at days notice,
unless he stumbled on it."
The customer finally concluded toAhuy
another pair of earrings, and have the
diamond he had, put into stud.
"That stone," said the jeweler, after
the customer had gone, holding up the
solitary earring so that it flashed dozen
brilliant colors, sis what is known to the
trade as fancy fine. 1t is pure blue
white stone and or great value. | should
say it was worth $500 carat To match
stone of that quality is very difficult.
Although in one hour I can examine
million dollars worth of diamonds, l
would not find one of the same weight,
celor, and cut as this one is. Formerly,
if e jeweler had customer who was de-
sirous of matching stone of this quality
he would ransack the jewelry stores all
over the world in order to obtain what he
wanted. Of course that made the price
so much higher to the customer. Now
adays jewelers. prefer to cut stone to
order. It ia not always certain even then
that the Jewels will be exactly alike.
One cannot always Judge to fraction of
carat what the rough stone will weigh
after it is cut.
''With the less valuable diamonds this
difficulty is not so great. While the sup
ply of fancy fine diamonds in this coun-
try is limited, there are plenty of the
poorer quality of stones. In fact, the
supply of fine diamonds all over the
world is limited.
'The most difficult thing for a sjeweler
to obtain is necklace Of fine diamonds.
To begin with, he takes one large
diamond. After that all the diamonds in
the necklace must be in pairs, one on
each side. The jeweler must be even
more careful about these than he would
have to be if they were intended for ear
rinse.- In the latter tho towels
separate and a trifing fault might pass
undetected. But in necklace where the
jewels are in one place the slightest diff
ference in color would not pass unnoticed
even by an amateur. A stone of yellow
shade would look like topaz beside a
white diamond. Even the slightest diff
ference in shape would be plain, and put
the necklace around the throat of a wo-
man in full dress and every fault would
become doubly pronounced.
"It sometimes takes a jeweler years to
make perfect necklace of fine diamonds.
After it is begun there are great many
changes before it is finished. Tae work
of gathering the diamonds for first
class necklace does not pay. The profit
on diamonds is only 10 per cent.-at
least that is all any reputable dealer
charges.
"a customer once came to us and ask
ed Us to make him diamond necklace
not to exceed $4,000 in price. That is,
of course, small price for necklace, in
which there arc from twenty-five to fifty
stones. It took us nearly year to get it
satisfactory, and after counting the time
and worry lost IN the work, we found
that our prefit was less than 8 per cent.
That sort of thing does not pay.
"We are now engaged in making a
necklace that will cost $4,000. I have
standing orders with leading diamond
merchants for certain class of diamonds
for this necklace. It is intended for a
prominent Chicago society lady. We
have about one half the diamonds neces-
sary.r Before it is finished, however, I
think it probable that the many changes
necessary to get it satisfactory will COM
pei us to lay aside half of the diamonds
now selected.
ssI have made hundred changes in ar
ranging the diamonds for single neck
lace. With any other jewels this extreme
care would be unnecessary, as defects of
differences are not noticed in them that
would be glaringly apparent in diamonds.
"One difficulty, which is equal i'll the
amount of trouble it gives US all the
others put together, is the eyesight of
our customers. Being in critical frame
of mind when they purchase diamonds,
they see defects which do not exist, and
it is hard to convince them tLat they are
mistaken. The eyesight has to be educat-
ed in studying diamonds, and we often
spend hours in explaining and showing
the beauties CT diamonds to customers.
Some will insist that two diamonds are
mates when they are as unlike al mulat
to and a white man in color.
A Valuable Receipt.
Decorator and Furnisher
The true French polish is one pint of
spirits of wine added to quarter of an
ounce of gum copal, the same of gum
arabic and one ounce of sheDac. This
polish is used for plain wood. The prin-'
ciple of action is the floating with oil the
gummy or resinous substances into the
pores, and bringing the polish up by
ruhhinn Tho CIV ,;ohf , cba11qc